India is passing through her most critical - perhaps dangerous - times. World's largest Democracy, India has today become the largest cesspool of official corruption, crime, political opportunism and caste/communal animosities. Political Parties are now Family Corporates, Bureaucracy their franchisee and crony capitalists their partners as they embark upon plundering the Nation together. Time for India to wake up and restart! One Anna or Kejriwal is not enough - Karan Kharb

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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Rape, Murder, Corruption……it’s
Anarchy sans Rebellion

Karan Kharb

The gang rape of a hapless girl in a bus on
busy roads of India’s capital city New Delhi on December 16 is just another
slap on the face of Indian Democracy. Crime in the city has become a way of
life leaving citizens to fend for themselves. Before we are able to recover
from one sad occurrence, a new menace is lurking to pounce. Anti-corruption
crusaders had squarely accused as many as fifteen ministers of the Manmohan
Singh government for corruption. Not one
of them has dared to sue the accusers for false allegation or defamation. Nearly a third of the Lok Sabha members are
facing trials for various offences including heinous crimes as serious as
murder, rape, extortion, robbery, kidnapping et al; and yet it is they who make
laws for us to follow! Involved so intensely in their self-serving pursuits, how
can they devote time to matters like public safety, welfare and development? No
wonder, rapists, kidnappers, murderers rule the roost while the law abiding
citizens, especially women pray for safety and take it as a divine reward if
they are back home safe at night.What
an adventure!

Police: Guarding the Strong, Dumping the Hapless

Here is what public safety and security means
to those who govern us. As per the details available on government portals and
ministerial statements in the Parliament early this year, there is a
countrywide shortfall of as many as five lakh personnel. A pan-India panorama until
March 2010 had a total of 50,059 police personnel deployed for VIP protection
against an authorised strength of 28,298, that is, as many as 21,761 police
personnel in illegal service of the VIPs at a time when there was just one
constable for a population of 761 (against the authorised strength of one policeman
per 131 population).The situation since
then has grown from bad to worse as the latest state of Delhi police deployment
shows.Today in Delhi, while there is
only one policeman for 364 people, there are 20 policemen per VIP, that is, a
force of 8,283 dedicated to 416 VIPs. Deployment of SPG, NSG, ITBP and other
para-military forces for Z series category of VIPs is in addition.And in most cases the deployment is not to
ward off any security threat (which exists only for a select few), but to add
an aura of majesty to the persona of the Neta.

Malls, multiplexes, mandis, colleges,
institutions, public service centres, bazars, parks, parking spaces – all have
learnt to fend for themselves and have their own security guards who pose to
protect them without any legal powers.Public
safety and security is the first among fundamental responsibilities of every
government and a constitutional right of every citizen; otherwise, Right to
Life will have no meaning.

Rehearsed Ritual of Official Response

Most crimes pass off without evoking concern
from politicians, police or judiciary. Demands and assurances on the floor of
the Parliament for ‘stringent, exemplary punishment’, ‘speedy trials’, ‘fast
track courts’ do not inspire confidence nor do the eloquent demagogy and
crocodile tears shed by actors turned politicians because we have a history of
on-going betrayal of public faith in the country. Shockingly, no responsible
authority owns up shortcoming or failure at their level. At best, they put
forth excuses to win sympathy and appreciation rather than punitive action. Sometimes,
the excuses appear plausible too; but surely, someone is responsible for
deficiency, poor maintenance, equipment failure or lack of coordination –
whatever the excuse!

Union Home Minister, CM, police chief – all
come out with promises as if this would be the last time people had it so
bad.But since the aim of these hollow
declarations is only to cool down the rising public ire rather than change and
improve, they are soon forgotten.Very
much like their old speeches and election manifestos, these assurances come
handy to our politicians for every successive rape, each being an occasion to
rehearse and improve their performance on camera rather than perform and demand
performance in governance.

Exhibition of Government Dumbness

In no other democracy of the world would you
find a Prime Minister so silent and immovably insensitive even on burning issues
that trigger such public outcry and public outpouring as currently at Vijay Chawk
and India Gate. We are today witnessing a live show of persistent indifference of
a government that has become accustomed to watching from behind their windows the
rising multitudes of angry yet disciplined and non-violent men and women demanding
just fair and responsive governance. Obviously, democracy in India has drifted
away from people.

Governance is now marred by rampant corruption,
inefficiency and callousness with total absence of accountability almost all
over the country. Fed up with a corrupt and callous system, people looking for
alternatives under desperation have gradually drifted to the side of the
insurgents. Already more than one fourth of the country from Bengal to Kerala is
already under the sway of Maoist insurgents. In the fast expanding ‘Liberated
Zones’ state authorities are denied access and it is the writ of the insurgents
that prevails.

Starved farmers and dissatisfied soldiers are
committing suicides as never before. Shopkeepers and small business concerns
are buying security by employing private security guards and paying hafta. Victims
of loot, molestation, rape, kidnap and perpetual harassment at the hands of
outlaws have lost faith in the police and judiciary.They would rather negotiate and buy peace and,
if possible, patronage of the hoodlums rather than face disdain and further
exploitation at the police station.

Shocking tales drip in blood and tears routinely
from government hospitals and private clinics where human life and organs are
freely traded with heartless brutality and impunity. News of child abuse in
play schools is a daily dose too! There is neither fear nor remorse even when perpetrators
of crime are arrested because bail is usually granted sooner than later and the
litigation lingers for decades. Now, the
Home Minister seeks to douse public ire by promising speedy action and setting
up a Commission of Inquiry. What a cruel joke! By now, people know it well that
setting up of ‘commissions’ is a fooling tool used by the government to confuse
the issue as enquiries would be meandering through a labyrinth of irrelevant
details lingering a simple and straight case through months – may be, years!

Synonymy of Crime & Government

Public outrage in the capital these days is a
pointer to total failure of governance.The
hollowness of promises and assurances is betrayed by the fact that our
political parties have in fact extended their patronage to the rapists and
criminals. Rather than fast-tracking criminal proceedings against the accused,
parties are actually abetting crime by giving tickets to criminals and bringing
them to the legislature as MLAs and MPs. Their newly acquired position comes
handy to slow down and subvert the legal process. The latest addition is a
newly elected MLA (Congress) of Himachal Pradesh gone underground after being
charged for murder of a young woman in Panchkula. If more evidence is needed,
here are the factual details collated by National Election Watch (NEW) and
Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR):

1. In Lok Sabha Elections 2009,
political parties gave tickets to six candidates who declared in their
Affidavits that they had been charged with rape.

2. In the last five years, parties
gave tickets to 27 of those who affirmed in their Affidavits that they were
charged with rape.

3. There were 260 contesting candidates from various
political parties who were charged under different sections of IPC for crimes
against women such as ‘outraging modesty of a woman, assault, insulting the
modesty of a woman etc.

And these are their self-declarations, not full
information about much more that could be lying beneath blackmail, compromise, unregistered
and unreported heaps. There are plenty in the corridors of power who, notoriously
dreaded for their character, are roaming free even if the likes of ND Tiwari, Gopal Kanda, Mahipal
Maderna, Abhishek Singhvi et al are discounted because reported cases of rape
and molestation in India are just the tip of the iceberg. Consequentially, the
government has lost the character and credibility that could inspire confidence
in the masses that are surcharged with anger and strong urge for change.

India is up and angry. In modern times when political rallies
are known for rampage, arson and loot, Anna had ushered in a culture of
peaceful, non-violent agitation but finally he had to call it off as the
government remained on a switch-off mode. Commendably, the youth power of the
nation is still peaceful and very much restrained despite their justified
anger. Such peaceful mass representations must be respected and heard empathetically
with topmost concern. But the government seems to draw comfort form the public
restraint which is a suicidal option chosen by it; for if you spurn peace,
violence burst and turn into unmanageable bloodbath. Corruption, crime,
anti-people government, arrogant police and civil administration – all add up
to make it highly inflammable, not only in Delhi but throughout the country. It
is surprising how people are restraining themselves from armed rebellion even in
such anarchic times. The government will do well to see the signals and be
advised not to try people’s patience.

The
author is an Army Veteran and social activist. He can be contacted at karankharb@gmail.com (Mob: 9818047092)

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Welcome to People Power

People are the Nation. Let's do everything in our power to multiply and build up 'People Power'. We must force the Government to rid the system of corruption and callousness. The least we can do is to expose and humiliate the corrupt officials, self-serving politicians, Vadra-DLF or Gadkari type of business culture, and the divisive forces destroying public goodwill in the name of caste, religion and region.

Fortunately, all these evils are not too many. Nor are they too brave. Anna, Ramdev and Kejriwal have exposed how timidly and stupidly the corrupt react. All evil is concentrated in a few hands at the top from where the fountain of corruption flows downwards. This muck, therefore, cannot be cleaned up from bottom upwards. The clean up has to start from the top!